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Advising Policy

Overview

Traditional PhD student advising involves a single faculty member in the
academic department, who is responsible for all aspects of a student's progress
in the degree program. However, in this era of cross-disciplinary research
interests and the establishment of multi-disciplinary research centers and
institutes, it is sometimes desirable for a student to be advised by a research
scientist, by a faculty member outside the department, or in rare
cases by an individual outside the university (including but not limited to a
person formerly affiliated with the university).

Nevertheless, the Department has a responsibility to ensure that
every student is affiliated with a member of the Department's "regular faculty" who can fully and consistently
represent the student in his or her interactions with the Department and the
University. Thus we recognize two distinct roles, research advisor and
departmental advisor.

Research Advisor

Each doctoral student (MS/PhD, PhD, or DES) must have a mutually agreed upon
"research advisor" who supervises the student's research, including but not
limited to the candidacy exam, thesis proposal and dissertation, as well as academic progress
through the program's other requirements. Co-advisors (two research
advisors) are permitted and indeed encouraged, where both separately and
jointly take full responsibility for the research and academic progress of the
student.

Departmental Advisor

Every doctoral student must also have a mutually agreed upon "departmental
advisor" who is a current member of the "regular faculty" of the
Department of Computer Science at Columbia University. When the research advisor
is indeed regular faculty, then the research advisor is automatically the departmental advisor.

A separate departmental advisor is designated only when the research advisor
is not a member of the department's regular faculty (which is why this role is called the departmental advisor). In
these cases, it is preferred (although not required) that the departmental
advisor be tenured. Such a departmental advisor may optionally serve as a
co-advisor with respect to research advising.

The departmental advisor is obligated to keep current with the academic and
research progress of the student throughout each semester, and represent the
student during the semi-annual student reviews ("Black Friday"). It is
expected that the departmental advisor maintains regular personal contact with
the student, rather than just relying on email updates or academic
records. Further, the departmental advisor is expected to consult with the
research advisor (if different) both before and after each Black Friday -
although all research advisors shall be invited to all Black Friday meetings and
are expected to attend.

Our main motivation in introducing the notion of a departmental advisor, in
addition to the conventional research advisor - again only for those cases where
the research advisor is not "regular faculty" - is to ensure that every student has an
advisor who satisfies three conditions:

The person regularly and routinely participates in "Black Friday" meetings
- and not just dropping in for his/her own students or sending in email notes,
but is actively aware of the general way things work, what good CS students
accomplish, etc.

The person is familiar with the CS doctoral program requirements and process
and, at least as importantly, with some of the general reasoning as to why we
do things in a certain way ("departmental culture").

The person can and does participate in decisions about the program, e.g., by participating in program decisions in faculty meetings, the
PhD committee, etc.

Further, in the case where the departmental advisor is not the same as the
research advisor, the two people shall co-sponsor the thesis proposal and
dissertation committees (note: this is a GSAS
requirement).

It is important to note that faculty members who take on the responsibility
of serving as departmental advisor (but are not also the student's research
advisor) are not incurring any financial responsibility for the student's
support.

Exception for First Year Students

It is desirable in some cases for new students to choose their
advisor(s) after becoming accustomed to the department and familiar with the
research programs of several faculty members and labs. First year students are thus not
required to have a research advisor until the end of the first year.

New students who do not enter with a pre-arranged departmental advisor
(whether or not there is a pre-arranged research advisor) shall be
assigned a nominal departmental advisor at entrance. The regular departmental
advisor shall be determined before or during the first Black Friday following
enrollment. In some cases this may be delayed until (but no later than) the
second Black Friday at the student's and/or prospective departmental advisor's
request. A research advisor, if different from the departmental advisor, must
also be designated by the second Black Friday - preferably by the first.

Special Cases for Second Year Students and Above

Second year or above students who find themselves without either a research
advisor and/or a departmental advisor, for whatever reason, should discuss the
situation as soon as possible with either the or the Department Chair. In most cases, the student will be obliged to find a mutually
agreed-upon research advisor and a mutually agreed-upon departmental advisor
(not necessarily the same person) within a reasonable period of time set jointly
by the PhD Chair and Department Chair (or if this situation occurs
at or shortly prior to a Black Friday meeting, by the full faculty in attendance
at that meeting). In all such cases, a nominal departmental advisor may be
appointed on a temporary basis, if there is not already one assigned.

Secondary Advisor Addendum

Students may optionally select (or change) their own
secondary advisor, independent of the research advisor and/or
departmental advisor, who must be a faculty member who
normally attends "Black Friday" in person, and who agrees to
discuss the student's Black Friday results, progress through the
program, and other issues as they arise. The secondary advisor serves no other purpose than as a "second opinion", and does not incur any responsibility for the student's
financial support or research/academic supervision.

[Change notes: Added preference for real advisor by end of first semester rather than second. Wordsmithing.]